Justification:
This species is classified as Near Threatened because it is suspected to have undergone moderately rapid declines during the past three generations (41 years) owing to habitat loss and incidental poisoning and pollution, and is consequently believed to approach the threshold for classification as Vulnerable.

It inhabits open country, including grasslands, savanna and subdesert thornbush from sea level to 4,500 m but generally below 3,000 m (Ferguson-Lees and Christie 2001). It is generally considered resident but some adults as well as immatures are nomadic (Ferguson-Lees and Christie 2001). It takes both live and dead food, mostly mammals and birds but also some reptiles, carrion, insects and occasionally birds' eggs and crabs, foraging over a huge range (55-200 km2) (Ferguson-Lees and Christie 2001). The nest is built in the canopy of a large tree, and breeding is chiefly September-May in West Africa, throughout the year in East Africa and December-August in southern Africa (Ferguson-Lees and Christie 2001).

Putative reasons for declines vary, but include poisoned baits, pesticides, trapping for international trade, nest disturbance from spreading human settlements, and increased intensification and degradation of agricultural land (Ferguson-Lees and Christie 2001, N. Baker in litt. 2005, S. Thomsett in litt. 2005). The major cause of the decline seems to be almost entirely poisoning by a few large-scale commercial farmers, but poisoning is also a problem in tribal small-stock farming communities.